Sabastian Lopez is a finance major at Catholic University. He is a junior sprinter on the Catholic University track team. Lopez has overcome depression. It was so bad he almost committed suicide on January 11th, 2023, to be a Catholic University record holder and a Landmark Conference champion.
Lopez is 21 years old and from Miami, Florida. His mother is from the Dominican Republic. His father is from Puerto Rico. He also has a younger sister who is 20 and attends the University of Maryland. The Lopez family has been moving back and forth between Miami and Washington, D.C. for about a decade. What challenges has he had to overcome to be successful?
Sebastian Lopez’s Accomplishments
Lopez’s primary plan is to run professionally for Puerto Rico. He is only 0.2 seconds away from meeting the qualifications. He is very confident he will be able to reach those goals this season. Lopez’s record in the 200-meter dash is 21.95. In the 100-meter dash, his best is 10.90. Personal records, or PRs, are very important to runners. They represent the lowest times for a given distance.
Lopez is a great sprinter. He has been improving his times year by year thanks to great coaching. He holds multiple school records and now a conference record. He transferred from Shenandoah University. Once he did this, he says, “I immediately reached out to Coach Steve Rahn and talked about transferring to Catholic University because I loved the school, its location, the team, the environment, everything about the school. I ended up transferring to Catholic University and my sophomore year was looking for really good running-wise.”
Lopez gives Coach Rahn, the head track and cross-country coach at Catholic University great credit as he has thrived at Catholic University. He credits all of his coaches there. There is no question they have helped him overcome.
He says, “I had a lot of emotional stress and depression building up from commuting an hour to school, as well as being a student-athlete, and I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to do this. As much as I regret this, I have to live with it for the rest of my life. It took me a while but eventually, I embraced it and took it as an opportunity to be a light for other people. I want to show people that it’s ok to not be ok.” Now, Lopez is great and wants to help people.
Lopez’s Other Likes
Lopez says, “I love spending time with my family and friends and taking advantage of the time I have with them. I also love playing with my dogs and taking them on long walks.” As far as favorite foods go, there is a Latin flavor as he likes mofongo con camarones, lechón, and carbonara.
He thinks Noah Lyles is a great sprinter and role model because sometimes he posts videos on sprinting techniques that he likes to try to replicate in practice. Lopez is also a fan of Roberto Clemente. Lopez loves how not only Clemente was an absolute stud on the baseball field, but also his dedication to giving back to the community, especially Puerto Rico. He was a symbol of hope for Puerto Ricans and people all around the world.
Conclusion
It is demanding to be a collegiate runner. Lopez started running track in his junior year of high school because his football coach said he should stay in shape for football. He sacrificed his 2020 summer and spring to run at a track club called Miami Elite. He then decided the following year to not run for his high school track team and to run for Miami Elite instead.
